Hairpiece and fastener

ABSTRACT

A wig comprising a hairpiece, a number preferably six to eight of individual fasteners that are attachable each to filaments of natural hair on the head to which the wig is to be attached and a receiver on the hairpiece for each fastener with the receivers and fasteners cooperating to provide releasable engagement so that the hairpiece is positively fastened to the head of the wearer by means of filaments or strands of his own hair.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee James A. Holly l Richton Park, Ill. 26,729

Apr. 8, 1970 Oct. 12, 1971 Permalok International, Inc.

HAIRPIECE AND FASTENER 8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[15. Cl Int. Cl Field of Search...

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,384,712 9/1945 Tureiychalk et al. l32/9l 3,280,826 l0/l966 Jenkins l32/5 Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeil] Attorney-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & MeCord PATENTED nm 1 219m FIG.4

(V! brill/Am INVENTQR.

JAMES A. HOLLY I [Vpd aw,

ATTORNEYS.

IIAIRPIECE AND FASTENER One of the features of this invention is to provide a hairpiece that is firmly fastened in position by attachment to the wearer's natural hair but that is easily released when desired such as for adjustment resulting from the growth of the natural hair or the like in which the combination includes a plurality of fasteners each attachable to at least one filament of the growing hair and a receiver on the hairpiece for each fastener releasably securing the fasteners and thus the hairpiece itself to the head of the wearer.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of one embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the head of a wearer and a hairpiece for covering a hairless portion of the head.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail perspective view illustrating a fastener and a receiver about to be joined together for attaching the hairpiece to the head.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the parts of FIG. 2 in attached but releasable cooperation.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through a fastener for releasable attachment to filaments or strands of natural hair on the head of the wearer.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but taken at right angles thereto and illustrating the relationship of the fastener to a plurality of hair filaments.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of one of the receivers that are mounted on the hairpiece as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and that are used to receive the fasteners and attach the hairpiece in the manner illustrated in FIG. 3.

In the illustrated embodiment each fastener 10 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 includes a cylindrical socket portion 11 having an axial threaded opening 12 at one end that is intersected by an axial slit 13 at this one end.

The threaded opening 12 and slit 13 are intersected on their inner ends by a transverse opening 14 adapted to receive a plurality of filaments of hair 15 from the head 16 of the wearer. Each fastener 10 is fixed in position by clamping the plurality of hair filaments 15 through the provision of a threaded post 17 that is movably held by the threads of the opening 12.

Thus each fastener 10 is attachable to a plurality of hair filaments 15 so as to be spaced around the head 16 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The hairpiece which is of the usual type including a fabric base 18 with hair 19 attached thereto in the customary manner is provided with spaced receivers 21 arranged around the hairpiece 20 in conformity to the spacing and the arrangement of the fasteners 10 on the head 16.

Each receiver 21 is of generally square shape in the illustrated embodiment as shown in FIG. 6 and has a central large opening 22 and a number of smaller openings 23 (here shown as eight) around the periphery of the receiver 21. These small openings 23 are used for sewing the receivers 21 to the fabric base 18 so that each will be finnly attached to the hairpiece 20 and form a part thereof.

Each of the receivers 21 has its central opening 22 large enough for a fastener 10 to be passed through it and then turned on its side as illustrated in FIG. 3 to releasably attach the fasteners 10 to the plurality of hair filaments 15 and thus to attach the hairpiece 20 to the head 16.

In use from six to eight fasteners 10 are customarily employed and these are arranged around the head 16 in a more or less symmetrical manner as illustrated in FIG. 1. Each fastener is attached to its clump of hair filaments 15 by arranging the filaments in the transverse opening 14 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and then screwing down the threaded post 17 as indicated by the arrow 24 to clamp the clump of hair filaments 15 in the transverse opening 14 and thus attach the fastener 10 to the head. After each of the plurality of fasteners 10 has been similarly attached to the growing hair 25 on the head 16 the hairpiece 20 is placed in position and each fastener 10 is passed through the central opening 22 in its receiver 21 and turned crosswise as illustrated in FIG. 3 so that it cannot pass back through the opening 22 until such is desired. This provides a secure mounting of the hairpiece 20 on the head 16 so that it cannot be accidentally dislodged or shift position.

Then, when the natural hair 25 grows out it is merely necessary to adjust the position of the fasteners 10 closer to the scalp to compensate for this hair growth. Whenever it is desired to remove the hairpiece 20 it is only necessary to raise each fastener 10 to a vertical position with respect to the receiver 21 and align it with the hole 22 for passing out through the hole, thereby releasing the receivers 21 and thus the hairpiece 20 itself.

As can be seen from the above description, the hairpiece 20 with the fastening means of this invention is not only locked securely in position on the head against accidental dislodgment but it can be easily removed by merely passing the fasteners 10 through the openings 22.

For secure attachment the receivers 21 are located adjacent a periphery 26 of the hairpiece with the fasteners 10 being located in similar positions on the head 16. Ordinarily from six to eight fasteners and receivers are required and each clump preferably contains from about 200 to 250 individual filaments of hair. Thus only minor tension is applied by the hairpiece to each individual hair.

Not only do the receivers 21 in cooperation with the fasteners 10 provide a secure attachment of the hairpiece to the head, but the receivers 21 being made of a resilient material such as synthetic rubber also provide a cushion between the fasteners 10 and the scalp. In use the styling of the hair 19 of the hairpiece 20 will serve to cover the fasteners and the receivers in the same manner that the hair normally covers the fabric base 18 of the hairpiece. In the drawings used for illustration only a few typical strands of hair 19 are shown on the hairpiece in order that the other parts of the invention may be more clearly illustrated.

The fasteners can be made quite small. Thus in one embodiment the portions 11 of the fasteners were only about 9/32- inch long.

There have been only systems for attaching hairpieces to growing hair, but these have been much more difficult to attach, required skilled operators for such installations as weaving and the hairpieces were not readily removable for servicing. The present invention, on the other hand, does not require skilled operators to attach as it merely requires clamping the fasteners 10 to collections of hair filaments and then inserting the fasteners 10 through the openings 22. The wearer without help can do this, and he can also remove the hairpiece whenever desired. In spite of this ease of attaching and removing, the hairpiece is firmly and securely attached when on the head without danger of accidental dislodgment or noticeable shifting.

In addition, as the hair grows it is very easy to adjust the position of the fasteners 10 as it is only necessary to loosen the threaded posts 17 and move the fasteners 10 closer to the scalp to compensate for this hair growth.

Another very important advantage of this invention is that there is no necessity for the expensive, laborious and painful attaching of hairpiece fasteners to the scalp itself. Thus no stitches are required and there is no penetration of the wearer's skin.

I-Iaving described my invention as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A wig, comprising: a hairpiece for a head that has growing hair thereon; a plurality of fasteners having means for attaching each to a filament of said growing hair; and a plurality of receivers on said hairpiece having means for receiving and retaining said fasteners, thereby attaching said hairpiece to the head, the fasteners and receivers being separable from each other for retention separately on the growing hair and on the hairpiece, respectively 2. The wig of claim 1 wherein said fasteners are separate from each other for individual spacing around the head in conformity to the spacing of said receivers on the hairpiece.

3. The wig of claim 1 wherein each said fastener comprises one member receiving said hair filament and a movable clamp member applying clamping pressure thereto.

4. The wig of claim 3 wherein said one member includes a socket portion receiving a plurality of said hair filaments, said one member and clamp member having threaded engagement with each other for releasably applying said pressure.

5. The wig of claim 1 wherein each said receiver comprises a member having an opening therein for releasably receiving a said fastener.

6. The wig of claim 5 wherein each said receiver member is resilient and is located between the head and the corresponding fastener when the hairpiece is in position to protect the head from the fasteners.

7. The wig of claim 6 wherein each said fastener comprises one member receiving said hair filament and a movable clamp member applying pressure thereto.

8. The wig of claim 7 wherein said one member includes a socket portion receiving a plurality of said hair filaments, said one member and clamp member having threaded engagement with each other for releasably applying said pressure.

untnn: n'mlt 

1. A wig, comprising: a hairpiece for a head that has growing hair thereon; a plurality of fasteners having means for attaching each to a filament of said growing hair; and a plurality of receivers on said hairpiece having means for receiving and retaining said fasteners, thereby attaching said hairpiece to the head, the fasteners and receivers being separable from each other for retention separately on the growing hair and on the hairpiece, respectively.
 2. The wig of claim 1 wherein said fasteners are separate from each other for individual spacing around the head in conformity to the spacing of said receivers on the hairpiece.
 3. The wig of claim 1 wherein each said fastener comprises one member receiving said hair filament and a movable clamp member applying clamping pressure thereto.
 4. The wig of claim 3 wherein said one member includes a socket portion receiving a plurality of said hair filaments, said one member and clamp member having threaded engagement with each other for releasably applying said pressure.
 5. The wig of claim 1 wherein each said receiver comprises a member having an opening therein for releasably receiving a said fastener.
 6. The wig of claim 5 wherein each said receiver member is resilient and is located between the head and the corresponding fastener when the hairpiece is in position to protect the head from the fasteners.
 7. The wig of claim 6 wherein each said fastener comprises one member receiving said hair filament and a movable clamp member applying pressure thereto.
 8. The wig of claim 7 wherein said one member includes a socket portion receiving a plurality of said hair filaments, said one member and clamp member having threaded engagement with each other for releasably applying said pressure. 